The Island

Chapter One

     The wind was howling, sending big waves crashing to the shore. The big island towering the small girl was the only land in sight. The soft, mud-like sand stuck to the girl's clothes, followed by shallow waves washing it away. The girl was scared. She didn't know where she was, what to do. The bright lightning followed by loud thunder only increased the girl's fear. Rain poured down on the weak and fragile girl. The dark, grey clouds hovered miles above the island. The girl could only imagine how worse the storm was on top of the island.

The girl questioned if this was her last moment on Earth. The end of her fear. She didn't know what she did to deserve to die like this. Was it when she hit her bully in the face with a basketball? Was it when she said a foul word when her grandparents were watching? Or was it because she ran away from home? The girl was frightened. She didn't want to die like this. She wanted to live. To accomplish her goals. She wanted a house of her own, a family of her own. Not to die on a beach surrounding a mountain-like island in the middle of the ocean.

No. She wasn't going to let that happen. She was not going let death take hold of her just yet. The girl forced herself up, wincing at the pain in her leg. She stood up, looking at the island. There was no other way up the steep mountain without climbing. Despite of her headache and limping leg, the girl started toward the mountain. The storm would possibly be worse up high, yes, but there could be help on the island.

Help? On an island in the middle of nowhere? Now the girl was going crazy! With any luck, she would find some trees and sticks. If she were to be really lucky, she could find a small rodent. There was no way there could be any life on the top. But what else were the girl to do? The only other choice was to die slowly and painfully on a beach.

Making her decision, she found a firm rock to grab on and put her foot in a deep dent. Pushing upwards, the girls winced as she quickly grabbed the closest rock and found another rock to step on. She pushed up once again, continuing the painful process. The multiple sturdy rocks made it somewhat easy for the girl to climb it. But the wretched rain made the rocks slick and easy to slip on.

Before long, the girl was almost to the top. Lightning almost hit her due to the dangerously increased height. Right before she pushed up for the last time, something was thrown from the island, followed by a faint voice.

"Darien! That was my favorite rock!" The voice shouted.

"It's just a rock. Calm down," another voice said.

"'Just a rock'?! What is wrong with you? You know that was the first rock I found here!"

The girl could hear no more words, but just voices. The power of the storm drowning out the last of the voices, leaving the girl alone with the storm.

She was right! There was life on the island! She was not alone! But what were these people like? Were they friendly? Could they help her? Or what if they weren't humans at all?

The girl pushed up one last time, reaching the top. Looking around, she saw nobody. Only footprints in the mud. The girl stood up, taking one more look around before proceeding forward. When she saw the footprints from birds eye view, they were not of a human's. They were big, bigger than what bigfoot must've had. They were designed in different ways, too. One set of footprints were like a big bird's foot. Four long, slightly thick toes in the front with a fifth one in the back. The footprints were about twenty times larger than that of a regular bird's foot. Maybe even larger. The second set were like paws of a dog. Separate dents in the mud were arranged in like the pads on the paws with a little hole in front of each dent, possibly due to a claw.

The girl was terrified. These things were not human. They were monsters. Big ones, too. One of them even managed to throw a boulder off of the cliff. If the girl were to proceed into the woods in front of her, would the monsters find her? If they do, what would they do to her? She couldn't possibly go into the woods. But what other choice did she have? Fall off the cliff and kill herself? A definite no.

Making the second dumbest choice she ever made, the girl walked towards the woods. Besides, the monsters wouldn't find her in these woods. It was like finding a needle in a haystack. And her dark clothes would help her to camouflage. Maybe going into the woods was a stupid idea, but there seemed to be enough materials to build a fire. But the girl would have to wait for the resources to dry after the wretched storm. But it was worth a try. Some things were better than others.